The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Salix plant botanically known as Salix sachalinensis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Golden Sunshine’.
The new Salix cultivar is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation discovered in a controlled planting of the species Salix sachalinensis, not patented. The species Salix sachalinensis is characterized by its green-colored foliage and large rounded growth habit. The species Salix sachalinensis is a small tree growing to 6 m (20 feet) high, typically as a multi-trunk with a spreading growth habit. The plant is native to Japan including Shikoku, Honshu, and Hokkaido.
The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single plant within a population of plants of Salix sachalinensis during January 2005 in a controlled environment at Iyo-city, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since August 2005 at Iyo-city, Japan has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.